Violin bass bar and sound post construction



y 1, 1968 v. D1 $1510 3,383,970

VIOLIN BASS BAR AND SOUND POST CONSTRUCTION Filed May 17, 1966 INVENTOR.

,4 TTO/P/VEX United States Patent 3,383,979 VIGLTN BASS BAR AND SQUND PSST CGNSTRUCTIQN Vincenzo Di Sibio, 3922 Pine St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19194 Substituted for abandoned application Ser. No. 487,188, Sept. 14, 1%5. This application May 17, 1966, Ser. No.

@iaims. or. 84-276) My invention relates to violins, cellos, and other musical instruments which include strings, a sound amplifying box, and a bridge over which the strings are stretched.

The object of the invention is to produce improved musical instruments of the type set forth.

The thin wood of which the belly and the back of a violin, or the like, are formed, is susceptible to changes in temperature and/or humidity and it becomes necessary to move the bridge longitudinally of the violin so as to maintain the strings at the desired distance from the finger board. Moving the bridge can affect the tone.

It is therefore a further object of the invention to produce an improved structure wherein the bridge is so supported as to minimize, or eliminate the necessity of adjusting the bridge in response to atmospheric changes.

The bridge has to resist the pressure of the taut strings and is conventionally supported by means of a post which is firmly wedged between the belly and the body of the violin. Since the relative positions of the belly and back of the violin vary with the temperature and humidity, it follows that the tension exerted on and by the post will also vary.

It is therefore a still further object of the invention to produce an improved construction wherein the post is out of contact with the back of the belly and wherein the post is yieldably urged against the belly of the violin with a force which is not materially affected by changes in the ambient temperature and humidity.

These and other objects are attained by my invention as set forth in the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a violin embodying the invention, the belly being broken away to show details of internal construction.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same violin with the belly completely omitted.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view looking in the direction of line 3-3 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the elongated rod of FIG. 2 shown detached.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the central portion of FIG. 1 but showing a slightly modified construction.

In the drawings, I have shown only portions of the belly 10, the back 12, the side 14, portions of the strings 16, a portion of the finger board 17, the bridge 18 and the tail piece 19 to which the strings are secured. The neck piece, the turning keys, and the chin rest, which can contribute nothing to the present disclosure have been omitted.

In carrying out my invention, I use a sound post supporting rod or bar 2% which may be made of wood, or other material, and which is preferably slightly resilient in the sense that it will bend in response to stress and will resume its original shape when the stress is relieved. Rod 28 is secured, at its opposite ends, in the conventional blocks 22 which are secured in position in any suitable manner. As will be seen from FIG. 3, rod 20 is spaced from the back and from the belly and is notched as at 24, detachably to receive the sound post 26 of my invention.

My sound post is generally U-shaped and includes limbs 28 and 30 and bight portion 32. It will be noted from FIG. 3 that limbs 28 and 30 taper and diverge upwardly and that they are not as massive as bight portion 32, and it will be seen from FIG. 2 that rod 20 tapers.

from its center toward its opposite ends. The underside of sound post 26 is cut out as at 34 so as to straddle recess 24 in rod 20. By this arrangement, it the stress to which the violin is subjected is such as to increase the pressure of post 26 against the belly of the violin; bar 29 will yield, and vice versa, so that the pressure against the belly of the violin remains close to constant. It will also be noted that the solid, hard wood blocks 22 are not as responsive to temperature and humidity changes as the thin beily, back, and sides of the violin, and thus exert a stabilizing influence.

The relation of the end of post 26 to the underside of the belly has been found to affect the tone, or timber, and to permit additional, controlled adjustment by each player to his own taste, the thickness of the base 32 of post 26 may be less than the width of notch 24 whereby post 26 can be moved longitudinally of bar 20. Alternately, the walls of notch 34 may be flared out to permit cooking, or tilting, of the post to either side of the vertical. The post is accessible through the holes which are conventionally provided in the vicinity of the bridge. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the supporting post is out of alignment with the bridge so as to increase the flexibility. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the support is in alignment with the bridge to provide increased rigidity.

What I claim is:

1. In a violin having:

a belly, a back, a side, a spacer block at its neckend and a spacer block at its tail end,

a bar secured at its opposite ends to said blocks and spaced from said belly and back,

there being a recess in the face of said bar which aligns with the bridge supporting portion of said belly, and a U-shaped post having limbs and a bight portion, the side of said bight portion facing the back of the violin having a notch which engages said recess,

the length of said post being such that it wedges tightly between said bar and said belly.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said limbs taper and flare upwardly.

3. The structure recited in claim 1 in which said bar tapers from its center towards its ends.

4. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the limbs of said post are out of alignment with the bridge.

5. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the engagement of said post and said bar is loose to permit a slight movement of said post relative to said bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 776,933 12/1904 Pipes 84277 1,278,707 9/ 1918 Martin 84-275 1,786,891 12/1930 Brown et .al. 84-275 FOREIGN PATENTS 675,730 11/1929 France.

4,247 3/1879 Germany.

240,055 10/1911 Germany.

379,468 8/1923 Germany.

450,952 10/ 1927 Germany.

598,164 6/ 1934 Germany.

661,989 7/1938 Germany.

ROBERT S. WARD, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A VIOLIN HAVING: A BELLY, A BACK, A SIDE, A SPACER BLOCK AT ITS NECK END AND A SPACER BLOCK AT ITS TAIL END, A BAR SECURED AT ITS OPPOSITE ENDS TO SAID BLOCKS AND SPACED FROM SAID BELLY AND BACK, THERE BEING A RECESS IN THE FACE OF SAID BAR WHICH ALIGNS WITH THE BRIDGE SUPPORTING PORTION OF SAID BELLY, AND A U-SHAPED POST HAVING LIMBS AND A BIGHT PORTION, THE SIDE OF SAID BIGHT PORTION FACING THE BACK OF THE VIOLIN HAVING A NOTCH WHICH ENGAGES SAID RECESS, THE LENGTH OF SAID POST BEING SUCH THAT IT WEDGES TIGHTLY BETWEEN SAID BAR AND SAID BELLY. 